Santana Early Years
1962 Sept or Oct: Salon MX, San Francisco, CA (One of the few shows played in San Francisco, CA by Carlos Santana’s first unnamed band, featuring Sergio “Gus” Rodriguez and Danny Haro) 1963 Fall: Stonestown YMCA Unnamed Band : Carlos Santana (g), Sergio “Gus” Rodriguez (b), Danny Haro (ds) 1964 Dec 18, 1964 Spanish Club Dance, San Francisco, CA Unnamed Band : Carlos Santana (g), Sergio “Gus” Rodriguez (b), Danny Haro (ds), Joyce Dunn (vo) 1965 Summer: Battle Of The Bands. Cow Palace, San Francisco, CA Unnamed Band : Carlos Santana (g), Sergio “Gus” Rodriguez (b), Danny Haro (ds), Joyce Dunn (vo) 1966 Late June California Hall, San Francisco, CA (Steve LaRosa, Rod Harper and Carlos Santana play at a "battle of the bands") July: The Mocker Manor Blues Band Carlos Santana (g), Steve LaRosa (b), Rod Harper (ds), Tony Lenzini (rhythm g, vo) Note: Sahib Malik (hca, vo) plays with the band for a few days, from late September to early October. Rory Butcher (tambourine, vo) joins the band for two weeks, from early to mid October. Summer: Presidio, San Francisco, CA Oct 1, 1966 1st Artists Liberation Front Free Fair. Potrero Hill Public Housing Project, San Francisco, CA In October the Artists Liberation Front (ALF) produced a series of fairs on four weekends in four different ethnic, low-income neghborhoods in San Francisco. They were called 'Free Fairs'. For the first time artists had gotten together, not to sell their art but to invite people to participate in the creative process. The artists set up kiosks with large rolls of paper and painting supplies. Kids (of all ages) could make their own art, while rock bands came to play. The Mocker Manor Blues Band were among the bands who played at these events (probably the first outdoors concerts of rock music history). They played in three of them, the first held in one of the two public housing projects in Potrero Hill, a residential neighborhood in the Mission District. Around that time an Afro-American guy named Sahib Malik, who sang and played blues harmonica, tried-out with the band for a short time but it just didn't work out, so this was his only gig with them. Also appeared civil rights activist, social critic, writer, entrepreneur, and comedian Dick Gregory, theatrical troupes El Teatro Campesino, the San Francisco Mime Troupe, and the San Francisco Calliope Company, plus a children dance troupe directed by Carol Landes, puppets theaters, and a local actor named Bobby Parker. Oct 2, 1966 1st Artists Liberation Front Free Fair. Potrero Hill Public Housing Project, San Francisco, CA Oct 3, 1966 Open Auditions. The Matrix, San Francisco, CA The Mocker Manor Blues Band did a non-billed audition set here soon after the above mentioned 1st ALF Free Fair. At that time Sahib Malik was still "with them" but he didn't actually play during The Matrix gig because Stan Marcum wasn't really infatuated with him and decided they wouldn't even tell Sahib about the gig. So, they did it as a quartet and Sahib was fired soon after. Oct 6, 1966 Lunatic Protest Demonstration - Love Pageant Rally. Panhandle Park, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA The Mocker Manor Blues Band played here along with The Orkustra, Big Brother and The Holding Company, The Grateful Dead, The Wildflower, and (possibly) Joe Henderson Quartet. The bands played for free during an outside afternoon unauthorized protest demostration held in the park and organized by Allen Cohen (editor of the San Francisco Oracle) and fine artist Michael Bowen, with the help of local hippie communities (among them, the notorious The Diggers), after having learned from the news media that the US Government had just declared LSD illegal in California. Oct 8, 1966 2nd Artists Liberation Front Free Fair Glide Foundation, Glide Memorial United Methodist Church, San Francisco, CA The Mocker Manor Blues Band played at the 2nd ALF Free Fair two-day event held at the Glide Foundation, a charity organization located in the Glide Church, in the Tenderloin, a neighborhood in downtown San Francisco. Also appearing were Country Joe and The Fish, The Jerry Brexelli Band, and Mrs. Joseph P. Lacy III's Jug Band, plus thirty poets who read their own works (including Michael McClure, Laura Ulewicz, Greg Campbell, Adrian Ravarour, Janice Mirikitani, Joanna Katz, Jim Turner, Joan Robb, Larry Mamiya, Gina Cunningham, George Spuler, and Dee Barret), theatrical troupe The Committee, contortionist Bernie Orlando, and Arthur Lisch and his Instant Theatre. Oct 9, 1966 2nd Artists Liberation Front Free Fair Glide Foundation, Glide Memorial United Methodist Church, San Francisco, CA Oct 15, 1966 3rd Artists Liberation Front Free Fair. Panhandle, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA The Mocker Manor Blues Band played at the 3rd ALF Free Fair two-day event held in the Panhandle park from 10:00am to 10:00pm. The band played in the morning and probably only on Saturday 15, with a lineup augmented by Rory Butcher on vocals and tamburine, formerly of The Hedds. Also appeared Quicksilver Messenger Service (Sunday 16), Country Joe and The Fish (Sunday 16), The Grateful Dead (Sunday 16), and The Wildflower. Oct or Nov: Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco, CA The Mocker Manor Blues Band did a non-billed "audition" set here once November 13, 1966 Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco, CA (The Mocker Manor Blues Band did a non-billed "audition" set, opening for Bola Sete, Country Joe and The Fish & Buffalo Springfield)